Pipelines are commonly used to transport fluids over long distances that can range from tens to hundreds of kilometers. This includes pipelines being used to carry crude petroleum and natural gas from one location to another, such as from an oil well to a refinery for processing. In addition, pipelines can also be used to transport sewage and slurry from refineries.
Pipelines may be susceptible to leaks due to a number of factors, including wear and tear, accidents, and natural calamities. Loss of fluids due to leakage in the pipelines can result in the loss of revenue, which can be a significant amount reaching, at times, into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, pipeline leakage can adversely affect the environment. Therefore, it may be important to detect leakage in the pipelines.
A fluid distribution network can include multiple pipelines. Sensor data from each pipeline may result in a large amount of data, so personnel monitoring the pipelines via a user interface may be presented with a large amount of information via the user interface that may be difficult to effectively monitor in a timely fashion. Further, only a subset of the pipelines in the network may be a particular user's responsibility to monitor, but it can be difficult for the user to observe only that relevant data among a large amount of available pipeline data.